Stories from the diggings: mining the rich history of the Goldfields

Kanowna sprang up when gold was discovered close to the surface (alluvial gold) in 1893 and 194, drawing thousands of hopeful prospectors. By 1895 the town had a hospital, later there was a school, a race course, post office, churches and numerous pubs.

One hundred years later, few traces remain, only the dirt roads, signs showing where former businesses stood and a few lonely graves mark the area.

A childhood that stays forever

In a sparkling narrative, actor Roland Rocchiccioli reflects on growing up in the dusty mining town of Gwalia, in the northern goldfields.

"The sort of childhood that I had never really leaves you, it was so rich in what it presented. It stays with you forever," Roland says.

Rich harvest in the desert

When the goldfields pipeline was first built, eight steam powered pumping stations kept the water flowing to Kalgoorlie.

No.8 Pump Station is the last on the pipeline, 80km west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, at Dedari.

Today, the pump station is electrified, but until it closed in 1970, No.8 was home to a whole community.

They were far from shops, schools and doctors, but they had all the water they wanted, and lush garden and fruit trees in the desert.

The convict game that still draws punters

An historic bush two up ring outside Kalgoorlie-Boulder still attracts keen gamblers, fifty years after it was built.

The ring is kept by Danny Sheeham, who like his father before him, has run two up games in the goldfields all his life.

Hear Danny talk about the history of gambling in the goldfields and the story of the great raids on two up in 1980s.

The clear Western Australian light that inspired a unique photographic record

William Edward Fretwell was an English engineer and draftsman who took hundreds of photographs of Western Australia in the early 20th century with a camera he built himself.

Living in Kalgoorlie between 1922-1930, his work took Fretwell all over the Goldfields-Esperance region, where he photographed the work camps, the building of bridges for railways and scenes of daily life.

He also captured the more unusual - a camel train pulling a house in the goldfields, and the visit of Amy Johnson to Kalgoorlie, the first woman pilot to fly from England to Australia.

Peter Pan's 100 year journey

Margaret and Tex Moore waited 8 years to buy the house called 'Peter Pan' in Coolgardie in 1989, one of the few original stone and brick houses from the 1890s gold rush.

The Moore's did all their restoration work themselves , taking 15 years to finish the house throughout, and now Tex says, the roof needs more work.

Inside, the house is rich in historical details (much of it reconstructed from second hand shop), covered in paintings and pictures of family life and, in winter, warmed by a series of fireplaces.

Inside the Kalgoorlie clock tower

Built just three years after the town was founded, Kalgoorlie-Boulder's public buildings on Hannan Street, with their working clock tower, are a symbol of the city.

The Kalgoorlie Public Buildings are regarded as an outstanding example of the government architects J.H.Grainger's work. The Heritage Council of WA describes the significance as being particularly high, due to "the external architectural grandeur of the building, rarely found outside the metropolitan area" and the fact that it is still used to house government office.